Nurse aid table



Aug. 10, 1965 R. COMPTON NURSE AID TABLE Filed Aug. 2, 1963 ATTOFIVEY United States Patent 3,199,467 NURSE All) TABLE Earl R. Compton, 815 18th St., Des Moines, Iowa Filed Aug. 2, 1963, Ser. No. 299,665 3 Claims. (Cl. 108-49) This invention relates to a table and in particular to a table which may be deta-chably secured to bed guard rails.

Beds for people who are bedridden usually employ guard rail structures along each side to prevent the person from accidentally falling out of the bed. These people necessarily require much personal attention and consequently much effort has been made to make it possible for them to take care of themselves to the greatest extent possible.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a bed table assembly which will help to enable a bedridden patient to become more nearly self sufi'icient;

It is a further object of this invention to provide a bed table assembly which is adapted to be detachably secured between the guard rails on a bed;

It is a further object of this invention to provide a bed table assembly which is automatically adjustable for use in connection with beds lacking uniformity in width between the guard rails;

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a bed table which is portable and may readily be detachably secured to the guard rail along the side of the bed;

It is a further object of this invention to provide a bed table assembly which will prevent spilled foods and drinks from falling onto the person in bed;

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a bed table assembly which has universal application as either a bed table or a night table;

A further object of this invention is to provide a nurse aid table which is simple in design, economical to manufacture and refined in appearance.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination, of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompyaning drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the bed table assembly secured to the guard rails of a bed as viewed from the head of the bed;

FIG. 2 is an elevation end view from the right end of the table assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the rear hinge support members secured to one end of the table assembly;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of the table assembly of FIG. 1 and showing in particular the hinge support brackets secured between two different sets of guard rails having ununiform spacings;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary top plan view of the table assembly secured to one guard rail along the side of the bed; and

FIG. 6 is an end elevation view of the table assembly secured to one guard rail along the outside of the bed as shown in FIG. 5. e

The bed table assembly is generally referred to in FIG. 1 by the reference numeral 10. It is shown detachably mounted on guard rails 12 and 14 which extend along the sides of a bed (not shown). In this position, the open end of the table indicated at 16 is adjacent the head of the bed.

In the bed assembly 10, a flat board 18 is provided having substantially the length of the Width of the bed mattress. An upstanding flange extends along each of the 3,199,467 Patented Aug. 10, 1965 ends of the table 10 at 20 and 22 and across the front at 24. The board 18 and its flanges may be fabricated individually from wood or as a unit out of plastic material.

At each end of the board 18, a pair of support members 26 and 28 are secured on the bottom thereof adjacent the rear and front sides of the board 18 respectively. As shown in FIG. 3 the construction of these support members is shown wherein they each have a plate element 30 secured by screws or the like at the bottom of the board 18. At the outside edge of the board, the support members 26 adjacent the rear side of the board, have a second element 32 hingedly connected to the first element 30. A U-shaped hook portion 34 is formed on the free end of the plate member 32 for engagement with the guard rails 12 and 14.

Support members 28 are similar to members 26 except that the elements 30 each have a second element 36 hingedly connected thereto which is slightly longer than the corresponding elements 32 in the support members 26.

As further shown in FIG. 1, support members 38 and 40 are provided along the forward side of the board adjacent its ends. In FIGS. 6, member 46' is shown in detail and will be described while member 38 being similar, its parts will be referred to in the drawings by the same reference numerals with a prime added. A plate member 42 extends transversely of the board and is secured by screws or the like to the bottom side thereof. At the outer end of the member 42, a perpendicular plate 44 is secured in a vertical plane and projects above and below the plane of the board 18. A brace 46 is connected between the member 42 and the member 44 to give the necessary rigidity to the support members. At the top of the member 44, a U-shaped hook portion 48 is provided which as shown in FIG. 6 is in detachable engagement with an upper bed guard rail 59 while the bottom portion of the plate element 44 bears against the next lower guard rail 52. Thus, the table 13 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 extends horizontally outwardly from the side of the bed.

The use of the table assembly as described, it is emphasized, may be continuous. During the times in which the person is active in bed eating, reading, writing or the like, the table 10 may be positioned across the bed over the person and supported at its ends by the support members 26 and 28 secured to the rails 12 and 14. The table may be moved to any position along the length of the bed by merely sliding it forwardly or rearwardly. Furthermore, since the space between guard rails varies from bed to bed the pivotal arms 32 and 36 in the support members 26 and 28 respectively give the table assembly 10 capability of being mounted on any given bed regardless of the particular guard rail structure employed. It is also emphasized, that when the person is eating food, is frequently spilled and will not run onto the person but rather will move toward the forward end of the table against the flange portion since the forward support elements 36 in support members 28 are longer than the corresponding elements 32 in support members 26 and thus the forward end of the table is lower than the rear end. When the table is not desired in the position over the person it may be lifted upwardly from the guard rails and moved to -a position along the side of the bed wherein the support members 33 and 40 are placed in engagement with a pair of vertically spaced guard rails 50 and 52 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The table is now usable as a night table or the like and when it is desired to return to reading or eating or the like the table again may be returned to its first position across the person wherein it is supported at each end by the support members 26 and 28. Thus it is seen that unlimited flexibility is provided by the bed table assembly and a beneficial result from its arrangement of my nurse aid table without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim: 1. In a bed table assembly for a bed having a guard rail structure along each side thereof, comprising,

an elongated table top member having forward and rearward sides, an upstanding flange extending along said forward side; and a pair of support members in spaced relationship along each end of said table top member and hingedly con nected thereto, each of said support members having a hook portion at its free end adapted to engage the respective adjacent side rails of said guard rail structures, and each of the forward support members having a length exceeding that of the rearward support members to cause said table top to tilt forwardly and downwardly whereby liquid spilled thereon will flow forwardly away from a person in bed. 2. In a bed table assembly for a bed having a guard rail structure along each side thereof, comprising,

an elongated table top member having forward and rearward side edges and a flat top surface, and an upstanding flange provided along at least the forward side edge of said table, said rear side edge being flat on top and lying in a plane common to the top surface of said table; and a pair of support members in spaced relationship along each end of said table top member and hingedly connected thereto, each of said support members having a hook portion at its free end adapted to engage the respective adjacent side rails of said guard rail structures, and each of the forward support members having a length exceeding that of the rearward sup port members to cause said table top to tilt forwardly and downwardly whereby liquid spilled thereon will flow forwardly away from a person in bed.

3. In a bed table assembly for a bed having a guard rail structure along each side thereof, comprising,

an elongated table top member having forward and rearward side edges and and edges, and an upstanding' fiange provided only along the end edges and forward side edge of said table; and

a pair of support members in spaced relationship along each end of said table top member and hingedly connected thereto, each of said support members having a hook portion at its free end adapted to engage.

the respective adjacent side rails of said guard rail structures, and each of the forward support members having a length exceeding that of the rearward sup port members to cause said table top to tilt forwardly and downwardly whereby liquid spilled thereon will flow forwardly away from a person in bed.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,468,412 4/49 Schaefer 108-49 X 2,509,060 5/50 Hoder 108-45 2,621,095 12/52 Hahmerson 108-19 2,766,087 10/56 Marcus 108-49 2,768,043 10/56 Kristofl? et al. 108-46 12,837,389 6/ 58 Brown 108-49 2,921,824 1/60 Richter 108-44 X 3,062,602 11/62 OBrien et a1 108-18 X 3,078,478, 2/63 Sheahan 108-49 X FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner, 

1. IN A BED TABLE ASSEMBLY FOR A BED HAVING A GUARD RAIL STRUCTURE ALONG EACH SIDE THEREOF, COMPRISING, AN ELONGATED TABLE TOP MEMBER HAVING FORWARD AND REARWARD SIDES, AN UPSTANDING FLANGE EXTENDING ALONG SAID FORWARD SIDE; AND A PAIR OF SUPPORT MEMBERS IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP ALONG EACH END OF SAID TABLE TOP MEMBER AND HINGEDLY CONNECTED THERETO, EACH OF SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS HAVING A HOOK PORTION AT ITS FREE END ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE RESPECTIE ADJACENT SIDE RAILS OF SAID GUARD RAIL STRUCTURES, AND EACH OF THE FORWARD SUPPORT MEMBERS HAVING A LENGTH EXCEEDING THAT OF THE REARWARD SUPPORT MEMBERS TO CAUSE SAID TABLE TOP TO FILT FORWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY WHEREBY LIQUID SPILLED THEREON WILL FLOW FORWARDLY AWAY FROM A PERSON IN BED. 